Shirley Welsh Ryan awarded honorary degree

Dr. Carol Estwing Ferrans named 2007 Distinguished Alumni

Advancing global health leadership - international graduate profile: Ellen Mbweza, PhD

Some closing remarks from our graduates

 

 

Shirley Welsh Ryan awarded honorary degree

For her tireless work on behalf of the community – enhancing the possibilities for a fulfilling life for children with disabilities - and her commitment to community, citizenship, and activism, Mrs. Shirley Welsh Ryan received an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the 2007 May College of Nursing Commencement.

Visibly moved by the award, she honored the spiritual presence her mother, who was a pediatric nurse and a public health supervisor, before beginning her address to the 2007 graduates. “As a mother of three sons,” Mrs. Ryan began her address, “I know the value of education and the power of family.”

Mrs. Ryan has been appointed by two U.S. Presidents and served nine years on the National Council on Disability in Washington. She is an advocate for persons with physical and sensory issues. Through expert knowledge she co-created and inspired the Pathways Center in 1985, a best practice treatment center for infants and children, to unlock their physical and sensory movement abilities. Pathways Center has provided post-graduate training to more than 3,000 pediatric therapists, and provided treatment for more than 4,000 babies and children have been treated at Pathways Center.

In 1988 she co-founded and still heads Pathways Awareness Foundation, which empowers parents with a growth and development chart, and assures pediatric early detection and intervention for optimal motor and sensory development. Through Pathways' work and its distinguished Medical Round Table, Chicago has become a national center of influence for infant and children motor development.

“You nurses are leaders with the power to heal, an awesome power,” Mrs. Ryan told the graduating class. “Be an impact player in your lives.”

Return to Top

 

Dr. Carol Estwing Ferrans named 2007 Distinguished Alumni

Carol Estwing Ferrans, PhD, RN, FAAN, was honored as the 2007 Distinguished Nurse Alumna at the nursing commencement ceremony. Having served 21 years at a faculty member in the College of Nursing, “ She represents widely-varied, significant work at the College of Nursing,” said Johanna Stubblefield, incoming Alumni Board president.

Dr. Ferrans told the graduating class that in those 21 years, “My greatest joy has been to contribute to your success.”

Dr. Ferrans is Professor and Deputy Director of the Center for Population Health and Health Disparities at UIC. She has been conducting studies focusing on quality of life and minority issues in health care for the past 20 years, funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Nursing Research. She is well known for developing the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index, which has been translated into 21 languages and has been used throughout the world in more than 200 published studies. Dr. Ferrans has received a number of awards for her work, and has been recognized as a Distinguished Research Fellow by the International Society for Quality of Life Studies.

Dr. Ferrans maintains an active program of research, studying the effects of illness and treatment on quality of life in cancer, cardiac disease, and other chronic illnesses. An important part of this research has focused on cross-cultural issues, including approaches to increase validity of data and participation in research for minority populations in the U.S.

She is also an active member of the Quality of Life Committee of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B, which is a national cancer research organization conducting clinical trials. Dr. Ferrans also serves on the Quality of Life Science Advisory Committee for the American Cancer Society.

Return to Top

 

Advancing global health leadership - international graduate profile: Ellen Mbweza, PhD

“As I am working at Kamuzu College of Nursing, I am always aware of carrying two banners: the banner of UIC College of Nursing and my personal banner as a professional nurse midwife. I will always keep these banners high despite the challenges.”

Ellen Mbweza, PhD '07, who came from Malawi to UIC in May of 2002 to begin work towards her PhD, supported by the NIH John E. Fogarty International Center through funding to the AIDS International Training and Research Program at UIC. She returned to Malawi in January and began work as faculty at Kamuzu College of Nursing, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, teaching theoretical and clinical midwifery and conducting research.

Return to Top

 

Some closing remarks from our graduates

“Nursing is sometimes described with contradictions—it's a privilege and a challenge. It's incredibly rewarding, yet largely thankless. And depending on which hospital one works in, it's a brutal reminder of the economic and racial inequities in our society. It's walking into a stranger's room, entering their intimate zone, and suddenly knowing them, or rather, being allowed to suddenly know them because their life is in the midst of a profound change. And similarly, it's walking into a group of fellow students and suddenly knowing them, because our lives, too, are in the midst of a profound change.”

- Excerpts from Graduate Entry Program (GEP) Student Shirley Stephenson's remarks at the ceremony, Saturday, May 12 th to celebrate the end of the pre-licensure portion of GEP.

 

 

 

 

Shirley Stephenson, left, stands with her professor Connie Zak.

 

Return to Top